Tibet enjoys best period of development in past 13 years   2002-11-12 17:51:28 The past 13 years represent Tibet's best period in terms of economic development since its peaceful liberation in the early 1950s, according to data available to the press at the media center of the ongoing 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Figures show the region's gross domestic product （GDP） increased from 2.77 billion yuan （333.7 million US dollars） in 1990 to 13.87 billion yuan （1.67 billion dollars） in 2001. Grain production rose from 610,000 tons in 1990 to 982,500 tons in 2001. At the end of the last century, the number of Tibetans living below the poverty line had decreased to about 42,800 from 480,000 in 1990. Since 1994, more than 30 billion yuan （3.6 billion dollars） has been spent in capital construction in Tibet, which is 2.6 times capital spending in the previous 43 years. In 2001, Tibet received 686,000 tourists, up 28.6 times over 1990. Tibet sees social stability, economic growth, ethnic unity and a happy life for its people, the data say. It is expected to enter a modernized society together with other parts of the country when New China is founded 100 years in 2049.